A scrappy adventure
by Lenatic
Summary: Reimu and Marisa spot something interesting during a drinking night at the shrine and decide to follow it.
1. Chapter 1

"Reimu."

"Do you see that?" came the voice of the black-and-white magician.

"Yeah."

"I wonder what it is." the witch continued.

"I don't know."

The slightly drunk shrine maiden, known as Reimu, sat up abruptly. "I really don't know," she said and squinted her eyes. The witch, Marisa, sat up too. They both looked up at a strange light flickering across the night-sky.

The girls were sitting at the front porch of the Hakurei shrine as Reimu had invited Marisa over to drink earlier that day and at the moment, they were both in a bit disoriented state. It was a warm, late summer night and at nights like these the whole of Gensokyou was running a little slow. So who or what would be racing through the sky at a night like this, was beyond them.

"Wha-" Reimu marveled and tried to focus her eyes, but the light had already gone behind the treetops for them to see.

"Hey," Marisa said, "we should follow it."

"That's a stupid idea," Reimu sipped her sake. "Besides, I don't think we're in any condition to fly right now."

"Bullshit, I can fly anytime," Marisa defied, "watch me!" She took her broom from where it lay beside her with a slightly wobbly hand.

"Stop it, you idiot," Reimu laughed out loud, and couldn't stop giggling, when the other girl tried to sit on her broom and fell down the porch. "You'll kill yourself," she howled.

"Come on, let's go," the magician laughed back and sat on her broom, not falling this time. "Oops," the broom tilted dangerously to the other side.

"No way," the shrine maiden replied gleefully, "you're drunk!"

"So are you, come on!" Marisa yelled jubilantly. "You can ride with me!"

"That's like a suicide!"

"I swear I won't crash!" the witch put a hand on her chest. Reimu couldn't help but smile. "Okay fine! But if we fall, I'm not saving you!"

"Yeah yeah, just come over here!" Marisa smiled and patted the broom behind her.

"How do I-" Reimu attempted to jump aboard the broom, which was hovering about a meter and a half from the ground, but failed miserably, falling to the ground bottom first, "Ouch." "Wait," Marisa laughed and lowered the broom. The shrine maiden climbed on the thing difficultly. "This is really uncomfortable! How do you sit on this all the time?" she exclaimed and tried to adjust her position, when the broom took off.

"Shit!" Reimu hung to Marisa's shirt when they flew across the shrine yard shakily. "Relax, we're goo- oops!" Marisa turned to say to her delightfully, but had to yank the broom upwards, for they almost hit a tree.

"Oh god, I want off this thing," Reimu cried out and kicked Marisa in her calf. "Ouch!" she shouted angrily, "No way, you fly too slow!"

Marisa sped up and left Reimu no other choice but to hang on with her dear life. "Slow down you drunken idiot!" she exclaimed and pulled at her shirt. "Wait, I see it!" Marisa suddenly said and pointed ahead of them. Through their drunken eyes, they saw a little light, flickering just above the treeline some hundred meters away. An enthusiastic glint took its place in Reimu's eyes, "Yes! Go, go, go," she breathed and started pounding her fists against Marisa's back.

"Jeez, you're the one who didn't want to go," the witch said and steered towards the light. Suddenly, it disappeared from the view. "Shit, where did it go?" Reimu cursed and scanned the canopy agressively. "I don't know, but if you don't stop pulling my shirt, I swear to god we're going to crash to that tree," Marisa replied laboredly and tried to pilot past a particularly big spruce.

"This was the dumbest idea you've had this year," Reimu replied and let go of the shirt, balancing her hands on the wobbly broom instead. "No, let me take that back, setting the Scarlet Devil Mansion's library on fire was the dumbest," she sighed wearily, "Why do I do this.."

"That was an accident!" Marisa exclaimed loudly and laughed, "besides, I saw you laugh when Patchouli dropped the pile of books on-"

"Wait, I see it!" Reimu interrupted and shoved Marisa on the shoulder, "look!" The light was visible behind the treetops for a moment, then faded away suddenly as a qust of wind hit the girls. "Dammit!" Marisa cursed as the broom swayed in the wind, almost tripping over and Reimu hang on to her midriff with both hands, "Oh god, I'm going to-"

"There!" Marisa suddenly flew closer to the ground, almost hitting a few branches on the way. "Oops." "Watch it, drunkard!" Reimu shouted angrily. "Ooh, I feel sick.. Get me down.." her face grew a little pale. "Hey, don't you throw up on me!" Marisa yelled and steered towards the ground. In a few moments, they were safely on the ground and Reimu threw herself to the ground blissfully.

"Remind me to never agree to that again," she said and held a hand to her face. Marisa looked at her, very amused, and said after a moment of silence: "wuss." "Shut up, asshole." After that, they fell silent as Marisa plopped to the ground, leaning against a tree. For a while, their slightly drunken brains couldn't remember the purpose of their little trip. The night was still warm, and Reimu almost fell asleep. But then Marisa started laughing.

"What the hell," Reimu gave a laugh. "What are we doing?" Marisa asked between her snickering and fell next to the shrine maiden. The said girl couldn't hold back and burst out laughing as well. They looked at each other and the laughter increased. Despite their constant quarreling, they truly were best friends, and at moments like this, it really was clear how laid back they were in the company of each other.

Suddenly a thought came back to Reimu. "The light!" she yelled and scrambled to her feet, pulling Marisa with her. "Get up, you slob!"

They tried to sneak towards the spot where they last saw the weird light, but kept tripping over roots and sticks. "Shi-" Reimu cursed silently as her foot got tangled in some sort of plant and she almost fell over. "Stupid Forest of Magic!" "Shhh," Marisa whispered and grabbed Reimu's sleeve, "it will hear us!" Reimu regained her balance and looked at Marisa, "so you think it can hear?" Marisa looked confused, "well, I figured, since it could fly so steadily in that wind, that it must be some sort of living being."

Reimu looked tired. "Give me a break. What if it's an youkai? I'm in no mood for fighting!" "Who said we have to fight it? We're here just to ivenstigate!" Marisa said the word 'investigate' slowly and started giggling after it. "Oh man," Reimu sighed and continued walking as quietly as she could in her drunken state.

They came to an edge of a little clearing, and saw many flickering little lights on the other side. "Were there many of them?" Reimu asked woolly and looked at the witch's confused face. "No, I only saw one back there," Marisa answered and looked surprised, "Oh look, they're moving!"

The lights started swaying across the clearing towards the girls. "What do we do?" Reimu wondered aloud. "Don't worry, I'll catch them," Marisa laughed and sprinted forward. "What? Idiot!" The red-and-white girl shouted after her angrily as the other extended her hand and grabbed one of the lights where it floated in the air. She opened her hand and looked curious. Reimu ran wobbly to her, and looked over her shoulder.

"That's a bug," She stated. Marisa squinted her eyes and looked at the little firefly in her hand, "yeah." "Were we chasing a bug?" Reimu asked abashed and tried to focus her brains to remember. "No, it was nothing like a bug." Marisa said and looked around them. The fireflies were floating in the clearing.

"Halt!" came a loud voice from the forest. The girls both startled and looked around them with wide eyes. A silent curse escaped from Reimu's lips. "Let her go!" the voice demanded. The duo looked even more confused. The situation didn't quite seem to sink in their hazy minds. "What, the bug?" Marisa asked and couldn't contain an outburst of laughter. The voice sounded angry: "Yes! And for your information, that is a firefly." "What the-?" Reimu snarled, "who the hell are you?"

From behind a tree came a young girl with dark green hair, dressed in a shirt, shorts and a cape of some sort. "The nightbug?" Marisa asked and looked at the girl hazily. "Wriggle!" the girl replied angrily, "let her go!" "Okay okay!" Marisa looked at the firefly in her hand and shook it off. "Watch it," Wriggle said and ushered the bugs to the woods.

"Was it her all along?" Reimu pondered aloud and looked at Marisa "what should we do?" Wriggle looked a bit frightened at that, she knew how strong both of them were, especially after the incident of the Imperishable Night, "look, I want no trouble! We've had quite enough of that around here lately."

The witch and the shrine maiden looked curious, "wait, what do you mean by that?" Marisa asked her with a little smile. The nightbug eyed them suspiciously, "..you don't know?" This caught the remainder of their interest.

"What?" Reimu asked perhaps a bit too sharply than she had meant to, thanks to her mildly drunken state. "W-well, there has been an youkai of some sort, causing trouble among us who live in the forest-" Wriggle told them hesitantly.

"Really? I haven't noticed anything!" Marisa blurted and Wriggle regained some of her earlier angriness, "well, of course she wouldn't dare to bother you, but the rest of us weaker ones have been her target for over a month now!"

"Wait, so, what does this youkai do exactly?" Reimu asked and crossed her arms, "surely I would have taken care of this if it was something big." Wriggle looked at her at her, annoyed, "nothing big enough for you. She has been stealing food from our houses and even attacking some of the weaker ones. Not me, of course," she said cockily. Reimu looked at Marisa suspiciously. "What?" she exclaimed, "it's not always me!"

"Does it happen to look like a flickering light?" Reimu asked curiously. Wriggle looked at her, "well, now that you mention, yes." The girls looked at each other. "It must be the light we were following!" Marisa breathed.

"Well, this is starting to become a real mystery." Reimu said with a glint in her eyes. "Say, nightbug, you don't happen to know where this troublemaker resides?"


	2. Chapter 2

Wriggle the nightbug looked at Reimu and Marisa uneasily. "I don't know where the thief lives," she said, "but it always flees to the direction of the Misty Lake."

Reimu looked at Marisa "it's those stupid fairies again!" she shouted and threw her arms in the air. "No, no," Wriggle said quickly, "I know all the fairies, and they're not behind this. In fact, they have been victims to the thievery as well."

"The vampire then?" Marisa said uncertainly. Reimu narrowed her eyes and tried to focus on Marisa's face. Her gaze was a little hazy though, as she was still slightly under the influence of alcohol. "Why would they do something as dowdy as stealing from fairies and weak youkai?" she asked, "surely not."

"Well, only one way to find out!" Marisa suddenly exclaimed and held up her broom. She wiggled her eyebrows at the shrine maiden. Reimu took a step back and pointed a finger at her "No! I will not ride that dreadful thing ever again!"

"Oh come on!" the witch huffed "I'm perfectly sober!"

"Then I guess my eyes were deceiving me when I saw you sway just now."

"Exactly."

"Shut the hell up" Reimu snapped, "let's go!" She started walking deeper to the woods and Marisa followed her with a frown.

"Umm.." The girls turned to look at the nightbug. "The lake is that way," she said a little shakily and pointed to the opposite direction.

"Of course," Reimu blurted and turned around a little bit too fast, almost tripping over. "Oops." Marisa laughed heartily and followed.

It didn't take long for them to be lost.

"No, I just saw that tree!" Reimu argued and Marisa whipped her head towards her, annoyed. "You're just drunk! You think I don't know my way around these woods? I practically own this forest!" she yelled and almost walked straight to a low branch, "shit!"

"That's bullshit! You don't know where we are!" Reimu accused. "No, we're near the lake! Can't you feel the humidity?" Marisa slurred. An amused laugh left Reimu's mouth. "Humidity?" she giggled, "you can't be serious!"

"Okay, do you have a good suggestion about what we should do then? Marisa asked and crossed her arms. Reimu stared at her for a moment, and then said "wait here," and took flight. She flew across the treetops, hitting a few branches as she went. "Motherf-!" she suddenly cursed and put a hand on her eye. "What," came Marisa's amused reply. "That cursed stick hit me in the eye!" Reimu shouted angrily and flew to the open air. She heard laughter from beneath the trees. "Shut up asshole!"

"Do you see anything? Or did it hit your other eye as well?" Marisa yelled happily. "No, just tre.. Oh wait! The lake is over there!" she replied and continued sourly after a moment "right over there. We must have been close all this time."

"Okay, we found the lake. Then what?" Marisa asked when Reimu descended from the air. Reimu looked at her "what were we supposed to do when we found it?"

Marisa stared back for a while. Then it came back to her "The light!" she exclaimed. "Oh right! Come," Reimu started stumbling towards the lake. The girls found it soon enough, standing proudly at the shore. Even though the night was warm and clear, there was mist hanging low above the lake. "Damn this is a gloomy place," Marisa stated and stretched the collar of her shirt, "it's uncomfortable."

"Keep your shirt on, sweaty pants," Reimu replied and squinted her eyes. "I don't see anything out of ordinary." Marisa looked at her amusedly, "are you sure you see at all? With your injured eyes and all?"

"Shut it," Reimu said and kept looking "wait!" she pointed at a figure flying in the distance. "What is that?"

"It's not a light," Marisa noted. "Don't you think it's suspicious? It must be almost dawn by now," Reimu said and took a step forward. "...you do know most of the youkai are awake at night and sleep through the day?" Marisa asked her, amused.

"No but- look!" the shrine maiden exclaimed and pointed the figure, now almost out of sight. A little light flickered with the figure now. "It's the thief!" Marisa shouted and hopped on her broom, which slipped from beneath her and she fell to the ground hands first. "Fucking-" she cursed and mounted the broom properly this time. Reimu was already speeding after the shadow in the mist.

She lost sight of the figure a couple of times, but soon she caught up to it. It was flying directly in front of her now.

"Stop right there you scum!" Reimu yelled and threw a seal which she carried around in her sleeves at the figure. It, however, was ready for the attack, and turned around suddenly. At the same moment, Reimu saw something small flying towards her and dodged it just barely. It ripped a piece of her skirt as it grazed her. 'A knife?' Reimu's thoughts were spinning and then something hit her hard in the stomach. It was a ball of danmaku, and it knocked the air out of her, sending her spinning towards the ground. Luckily, they were no longer above the lake, but a thick forest, and the treetops softened her fall as she finally hit the ground. Her head was spinning and she felt sick. Really sick. "Oh god," she groaned and tried not to puke.

The figure was now walking towards her with a lantern in her hand. 'Oh,' Reimu thought, 'that explains the light.'

"What on earth do you think you're doing, shrine maiden?"

Reimu looked at the person properly now that her head had ceased spinning. It was someone she knew, rather well actually. Sakuya, the maid of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, looked at her with stern eyes. She was dressed in a short-sleeved shirt and a skirt with her usual apron. She was holding a knife in the hand that wasn't holding the lantern, and she looked extremely annoyed.

"Oh, it's you," Reimu stated and sat up from the ground. Marisa finally found her way to the scene as well. She flew wobbly next to Reimu and hopped off her broom, almost losing her footing at the process. Sakuya looked at them bemusedly.

"Are you drunk?" she asked and held the lantern higher. Marisa squinted, "Oh, it's the maid!"

"Yes, it's me," she said carefully and looked at them. "May I ask why you tried to attack me like a common youkai?"

Reimu glared at her suspiciously, "what are you doing, flying around in the forest in the middle of the night?" Sakuya raised her eyebrows at that. "I could ask you the same. Although, I'm not sure I want to know," she glanced at the both of them.

Reimu seemed to remember their purpose then. "Have you happened to come across a youkai that appears in the form of some kind of light?" she asked the maid, surprisingly sober. "We heard from the nightbug that this particular youkai has caused a lot of trouble amongst the people of the forest. Thievery, and such."

Sakuya looked quickly at the black-and-white witch, who was leaning on her broom. "Are you sure it's not just her stealing people's stuff?" she said and Reimu saw her lips twitching.

"Hey! Why is it that everyone always accuses me of these things!" Marisa exclaimed angrily and made Sakuya laugh a little before her face turned serious.

"Actually, it just happens, that I'm here to investigate the same thing as you," she put the knife back to the band wrapped around her leg. "We've been hearing these rumours back at the mansion as well. Meiling talked to one of the fairies just yesterday. I decided to come and see what the fuss is all about."

"That's all?" Marisa asked her, "and you're doing this in the middle of the night?"

"Time is different for me than it is to you," the maid stated, "now was a good moment."

Marisa didn't look convinced. "So you're not under orders? You just deciced to 'come and see' because you were curious? How unlike you."

"Why, is it hard to believe that I might just have normal human curiosity?" Sakuya smirked and lifted an eyebrow at Marisa.

"Well, you rarely demonstrate it." She smiled, wiggling her eyebrows, "I could show you a thing or two about curiosity, if you're interested."

"Save your flirting to someone who wants to hear it, magician," Sakuya sighed, looking unimpressed.

"So, since we have a common purpose, why don't you come with us?" the witch smirked. "Just like old days!"

"I've only fought with you once."

"Come on, it will be fun!" Marisa laughed. Sakuya looked tired, "very well, but it's you who's coming with me. I doubt you even know where you are."


End file.
